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Why are those leaves growing out of that dress?

Ron Isaacs at Snyderman-Works Gallery

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'Alter Ego (Formal/Informal)': A pun on itself.
'Alter Ego (Formal/Informal)': A pun on itself.
A tricky artist is on view at the Snyderman-Works Gallery in Old City. Ron Isaacs is a trompe l'oeil magician, but there's a great deal of depth to his tricks. Isaacs is a master of his craft, but he's also a storyteller, creating finely detailed works that use vintage clothing to tell tales of past lives.

When you first encounter Ron Isaacs's work you don't believe it. It can't possibly be what he says it is. His work says that you're looking at loose folds of fabric, dried leaves and bare branches, blackboards and metal. Your eyes believe him, but your mind keeps poking at you with questions. "Why are those leaves growing out of that dress? Why is that christening gown fading into chalk lines on a blackboard?"

These are classic trompe l'oeil questions— it's apparent that Isaacs has a working relationship with William Michael Harnett and other past masters of the genre. Make something look like something else, and be good enough at your craft to "fool the eye" of the beholder.

Meaning and emotion


Unlike virtuoso trompe l'oeil ceramic sculptors, Isaacs works with wood— specifically birch plywood, a much less malleable material than clay and therefore even more astonishing.

Of course, trompe l'oeil can be a mere gimmick if the work lacks deeper layers of meaning and emotion. But Isaacs's work contains plenty of both which, combined with his extraordinary craftsmanship, makes for a memorable experience.

His piece titled La Nuit is a stunner, streaking across the gallery wall like a dark comet, with a simple black dress as the head, its round zippered neck and long sleeves peppered with (painted) silver bead trim and its hem disintegrating into a trail of dusty leaves and branches. The style of the dress is dated, and its dusty look belies the pieces meticulousness"“ you sense your own life passing in the comet's trail.

A whiff of nostalgia is present in the vintage styles of Isaacs's clothing and in the autumnal stage of the turning leaves and dry branches. The Sassafras Baby contains more than its share; even the title speaks of a rural, less Pepsi Generation sort of time.

Someone was once here


Each of the show's major works is a single piece of clothing, editorialized with a connection to nature in some way. (Other, smaller works are intriguing and charming too, but the clothing pieces are the stars.)

A man's cutaway coat from the 19th or early 20th Century forms the basis for Alter Ego (Formal/Informal), with the coat on the left and a skeletal frame fitted with leaves on the right— a pun on itself. The stiff formal coat half is a wonder of detail, with each button neatly in place and reflecting the sheen of long wear and careful pressing with a hot iron. Someone was once in here, says the coat, but the memento mori message of the other half says: He is no longer. Work of this caliber is a rare delight.

What, When, Where

“Nature Morte Transfigured: Sculptural Still Life by Ron Isaacs.†Through May 14, 2011 at Snyderman-Works Gallery, 303 Cherry St. (215) 238-9576 or www.snyderman-works.com.

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